Glass Butterfly

[Main story complete. Extra chapters will be updated as the rankings change.]

[My friend's marriage-first, love-later novel, Falling in Love After Marriage, is complete. Check it out!]

Two years after their divorce, Qiao Shu and Yu Zeheng meet again at a media press conference. The lights keep flashing, illuminating their outwardly harmonious but inwardly estranged poses.

A reporter asks, "Ms. Qiao, are the rumors that you and Mr. Yu have divorced true? Will this affect the cooperation between the Qiao and Yu families?"

"No."

Qiao Shu looks at him, her smile dazzling. "What do you think, darling?"

"Right," Yu Zeheng says, leaning back. His gaze is cold and his tone distant as he asks, "Otherwise, who would call their ex-husband 'darling'?"

At first, Yu Zeheng warns Qiao Shu impassively to stop getting ideas. They're only using each other. They have to put on a show in public, but in private, he doesn't want to look at her. Keeping their distance is best for both of them.

Later, he grits his teeth and asks who the blond, blue-eyed man by her side is.

In the end, he angrily covers her mouth when she calls him a bastard.

Late at night, Yu Zeheng pulls Qiao Shu onto his lap. At her wit's end, she asks, "Yu Zeheng, is this how you keep your distance from your ex-wife?"

Yu Zeheng holds her hands in place. "Does being in negative distance not count as distance?"

-

A friend warns Yu Zeheng that this might be another one of her schemes. He knows exactly what's going on. He won't fall into the same trap twice.

They're only using each other. Once it's over, they'll go their separate ways.

Late at night, Qiao Shu sits on the floor. Usually, she's a pampered woman, polished down to every strand of hair. Now her eyes are slightly red from crying as she gazes at him pitifully. "Darling?"

He wipes her tears and slips her feet into her slippers. "I'm here."

He knows perfectly well that she's all sweet words and hidden knives, calling him "darling" when she needs something and Yu Zeheng when she doesn't.

Still, he falls for her.

Yu Zeheng knows right then that there are some traps he'll fall into again.

My next novel: Burning Passion

Jiang Ruan and Chen Zexu have been married for three years.

Like other couples in arranged marriages between wealthy families, they didn't know each other before the wedding and had no feelings for each other. But their shared interests were enough to maintain a respectful marriage.

Chen Zexu is the perfect husband: tall, handsome, accomplished inside and out. Though a little aloof, he's respectful and considerate.

The only strange thing is that they never share a bed. No matter how passionate things get beforehand, he always coolly withdraws to his room and wishes her good night.

If nothing unexpected happens, they'll go on like this forever.

Until Jiang Ruan accidentally opens a hidden door in his bedroom. The walls are covered with pictures of her, from her school days to the present. On the desk lies an open notebook, filled with line after line:

Jiang Ruan Jiang Ruan Jiang Ruan Jiang Ruan Jiang Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan Ruan wife wife wife wife wife smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good smells so good I want to kiss her more more more more more more...

Theme: Rebuild after destruction